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Benny Binion
Lester Ben "Benny" Binion (November 20, 1904 – December 25, 1989) was an American gambling icon and mob boss. Early history Binion was born and raised in Pilot Grove, Texas in Grayson County, north of Dallas. His parents initially kept him out of school due to poor health. His father, a horse trader, let him accompany him on trips. While the outdoor life restored his health, Binion never had any formal education. As he traveled with his father, the young man learned to gamble, a favorite pastime when horse traders met up with farmers and merchants during county fair trade days Criminal history Binion's FBI file reveals a criminal history dating back to 1924, listing offenses such as theft, carrying concealed weapons, and two murder convictions. Binion moved to El Paso when he was 18.There, he began moonshining.A year later, at the age of 19, Binion moved to Dallas where he set up moonshining operations, for which he was twice convicted. In addition to his moonshining, in 1928, Binion opened up an even more lucrative numbers game. In 1931, Binion was convicted of shooting and killing an African American rum-runner, Frank Bolding, "cowboy style." This was the origin of Binion's "Cowboy" nickname. Binion received a two-year suspended sentence. In 1936, Binion established a network of private dice games at several Dallas hotels, including the Southland Hotel in downtown Dallas. This came to be known as the Southland Syndicate. By the end of 1936, Binion had gained control of most gambling operations in Dallas, with protection from a powerful local politician. In 1936, Binion and a henchman killed a numbers operator and competitor, Ben Frieden, emptying their pistols into him. Binion then apparently shot himself in the shoulder and turned himself in to police, claiming that Frieden had shot him first. Binion was indicted, but the indictment was later dismissed on the grounds that Binion had acted in self-defense.12 In 1938, Binion and another henchmen allegedly killed Sam Murray, another of Binion's competitors in the gambling rackets. Binion was never indicted for this murder, and charges were dropped against his henchmen. By the early 1940s, Binion had become the reigning mob boss of Dallas. He then sought to take over the gambling rackets in Fort Worth. The local mob boss of that city, Lewis Tindell, was murdered shortly afterwards. The Chicago Outfit made a successful move into Dallas after World War II. With the 1946 election of a Dallas County Sheriff Steve Gutherie, Binion lost his fix with the local government and fled to Las Vegas. While in Dallas, Binion had begun a long-running feud with Herbert Noble, a small-time gambler in Dallas, which continued after Binion moved to Las Vegas. Binion demanded that Noble increase his payoff to Binion from 25 to 40 percent, which Noble refused to do.Binion posted a reward on Noble's scalp that eventually reached $25,000 and control of a Dallas crap game. Noble survived numerous attempts on his life, sometimes narrowly escaping with gunshot wounds. In November 1949, Noble's wife was killed in a car bombing intended for him. In retaliation, Noble planned to fly his private plane to Las Vegas to bomb Binion's house, but was restrained by local law enforcement before he could execute his plan.8 In August 1951, as Herbert Noble drove up to his mailbox, a bomb exploded nearby, killing him instantly. Binion lost his gambling license in 1951, and was sentenced to a five-year term in 1953 at Leavenworth federal penitentiary for tax evasion. Casino years In Las Vegas, Binion became a partner of the Las Vegas Club casino, but left after a year due to licensing problems after the casino relocated.In 1951, Benny purchased the building which had previously housed the Las Vegas Club, and opened it as the Westerner Gambling House and Saloon. In 1951, he purchased the Eldorado Club and the Apache Hotel, opening them as Binion's Horseshoe casino, which immediately became popular because of the high limits on bets. He initially set a craps table limit of $500, ten times higher than the limit at his competitors of the time.20 Because of the competition, Binion sometimes received death threats, although eventually casinos raised their limits to keep up with him. Additionally, the Horseshoe would honor a bet of any size as long as it was the first one made. Binion was in the vanguard of Las Vegas casino innovation. He was the first in the downtown Glitter Gulch to replace sawdust-covered floors with carpeting, the first to dispatch limousines to transport customers to and from the casino, and the first to offer free drinks to players. Although comps were standard for high rollers, Binion gave them to all players. He also shied away from the gaudy performing acts typical of other Las Vegas casinos. Binion said he followed a simple philosophy when serving his customers: "Good food, good whiskey cheap, and a good gamble." Binion was known to be generous to patrons. For many years the Horseshoe had a late night $2 steak special, with most of the meat for the steaks coming from cattle on Binion's ranches in Montana. The Horseshoe is also believed to be the first major casino to offer 100-times-odds at craps (a patron with a bet on the pass or don't-pass lines could take or lay up to 100 times their bet in odds).The Horseshoe was one of the more profitable casinos in town. One of the tourist attractions in Binion's was a large horseshoe with $1 million in $10,000 bills, embedded in plastic. After his trial and conviction in 1953, to cover back taxes and legal costs, Binion sold a majority share in the Horseshoe to fellow gambler and New Orleans oilman Joe W. Brown. Binion’s family regained controlling interest in the Horseshoe in 1957, but did not regain full control until 1964. Benny was never allowed to hold a gaming license afterwards. Instead, his son Jack became the licensee, with Benny assuming the title of Director of Public Relations. Binion styled himself a cowboy throughout his life. He almost never wore a necktie, and used gold coins as buttons on his cowboy shirts. Despite being technically barred from owning guns, he carried at least one pistol all his life, and kept a sawed-off shotgun close by. His office was a booth in the downstairs restaurant, and he knew many of his customers by name. Death Binion died of heart failure at the age of 85 on December 25, 1989 in Las Vegas. Poker great "Amarillo Slim" Preston suggested as an epitaph, "He was either the gentlest bad guy or the baddest good guy you'd ever seen." He was posthumously inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1990.Category:Dallas crime family Category:Associates Category:Las Vegas Mobsters Category:Texas Mafia